Funeral date is set

The Queen Mother's funeral will take place on Tuesday April 9, Buckingham Palace announced today.

Officials said there would be national mourning up to the day of the funeral.

At 4pm today, the Queen Mother's coffin was being carried by pall bearers from Royal Lodge, Windsor, where she died yesterday, to the nearby Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor Great Park.

Later, members of the Royal Family were attending an evensong service at the chapel.

The coffin will rest at Windsor until Tuesday, when it will be taken to the Queen's Chapel at St James's Palace in central London where, just seven weeks ago, the coffin of Princess Margaret rested.

On Friday morning, the coffin will be carried in a ceremonial procession to Westminster Hall where it will lie in state from Friday afternoon until the evening of Monday April 8.

The following morning, it will be taken to Westminster Abbey for a funeral service starting at 11.30am - a royal ceremonial funeral, not a state funeral.

The coffin will then travel by road to Windsor for a private committal service and interment at St George's Chapel, within the precincts of Windsor Castle, later that day.

The Queen Mother will finally be laid to rest alongside her husband in the George VI Memorial Chapel at St George's, the spiritual home of British royalty.

The ashes of Princess Margaret will be taken from the Royal Vault in St George's and interred in the memorial chapel at the same time.

In accordance with the Queen Mother's wishes, there will be no official memorial service.

The Prince of Wales, just back from an Alpine skiing holiday cut short in Klosters, Switzerland, this afternoon visited Royal Lodge to pay his private respects at his grandmother's coffin before it is moved to the small Royal Chapel of All Saints.

The Queen Mother's staff and workers are expected to be able to visit the chapel tomorrow, when royal gun salutes are planned in her memory.

Family mourning will be observed by members of the Royal Family until April 19, after Princess Margaret's planned memorial service.

During this period, the Queen and other members of the Royal Family will be carrying out official duties, although some engagements may be postponed or cancelled.

Flags have been half-masted at royal residences and will remain there until the funeral.

The Queen Mother's personal standard is flying at half mast at Clarence House, her London residence.

Condolence books are open at St James's Palace and in Edinburgh at Holyroodhouse Palace between 8am and 6pm every day until the funeral. Books of condolence will be opened at Windsor Castle tomorrow.